The BEST Deer Bacon Recipe – Ground & Formed Venison Bacon
This is the best and easiest Deer Bacon Recipe! Learn how to make a small and simple 5-pound batch of ground and formed deer bacon (or venison bacon) that easily fits in a 9 X 13 pan using some of your deer from this season. There are other Venison Bacon recipes out there, but almost all of them are for bigger batches of 10 pounds, 15 pounds, and even 25 pounds. I developed this recipe for all of you who just want to try it and see if you like it before committing to a large batch. I also hope you will appreciate the fact that it all easily fits in a 9 X 13 pan. If you are anything like me, you have lots of stuff going on in your refrigerator right now. A giant meat tub filled with 25 pounds of deer bacon taking up the majority of space in your fridge for a couple of days may not be appreciated by family members or roommates. But a 9 X 13 pan can just slide right underneath a carton of eggs, taking no room at all.EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH DEER BACON!This venison bacon recipe takes the succulent, gamey flavor of venison and infuses it with smoky, savory bacon goodness. Perfect for hunters who want to use every part of the deer, or for adventurous foodies looking to expand their culinary horizons, deer bacon is a versatile and flavorful ingredient that can be used in a variety of dishes. Whether you're looking to fry it up for breakfast and serve it with your eggs, add it to a sandwich for lunch, or crumble it on top of a salad for dinner, this recipe will show you how to make the perfect deer bacon every time. Unlike traditional pork bacon, this venison bacon is made from a combination of ground venison and ground pork instead of a whole muscle meat like pork belly.Because venison is extremely lean, the pork is added to create that mouthwatering fattiness we all love in traditional bacon. A mixture of cure and smoke adds that crispy, smoky bacon flavor to this venison bacon recipe.HOW TO MAKE VENISON BACON1. Place the ground venison and ground pork in a large mixing bowl.2. In a separate mixing bowl, combine curing salt, salt, powdered milk, brown sugar, liquid smoke, and seasonings with the cold water. Mix well, then pour the mixture over the meat.3. Mix the venison and pork with your hands until the seasoning is well incorporated, and the meat becomes tacky.4. Line a 9 X 13 pan with plastic wrap and press meat mixture evenly into pan to eliminate air pockets so it's about 2-inches thick. Cover meat with more plastic wrap and set in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight (up to 2 days).5. Preheat smoker to 200 degrees F.6. Remove the top plastic wrap and gently invert the pan onto your smoker rack and lift away the pan. Peel away and discard the plastic wrap that lined the pan.7. Smoke the bacon at 200 degrees F until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. (With my electric Masterbuilt smoker, this took about 2 1/2 hours.)8. Remove the bacon from the smoker and allow it to cool on a wire rack.9. Slice the bacon on a meat slicer or on a cutting board with a sharp knife. HOW TO USE DEER BACONSome of our favorite ways to use deer bacon are these recipes:Deer Bacon Jalapeno PoppersDeer Bacon with Asparagus and Eggs Lentil and Buck Bacon SoupWedge Salad with Venison Bacon and Homemade Blue Cheese DressingCOME DEER HUNTING IN NORTH DAKOTAIf you would like to come to North Dakota and experience a great deer hunt, check out the North Dakota Game & Fish Department website. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more details here. CONNECT WITH ME AND JOIN OUR WILD GAME COOKING COMMUNITYIf you make this Venison Bacon, I’d love for you to join our community and connect with me so we can all see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! When you post a pic of your finished dish on Instagram, be sure and use the hashtag #wildgameandfish and then tag me @wildgameandfish so I can share it on my Instagram stories.Did you enjoy this Deer Bacon Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground venison
- 3 pounds ground pork
- 1 teaspoon curing salt (Instacure No. 1)
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 cup non-fat dried powdered milk
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried mustard
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
- Place the ground venison and ground pork in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine curing salt, salt, powdered milk, brown sugar, liquid smoke, and seasonings with the cold water. Mix well, then pour the mixture over the meat.
- Mix the venison and pork with your hands until the seasoning is well incorporated, and the meat becomes tacky.
- Line a 9 X 13 pan with plastic wrap and press meat mixture evenly into pan to eliminate air pockets so it's about 2-inches thick. Cover meat with more plastic wrap and set in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight (up to 2 days).
- Preheat smoker to 200 degrees F.
- Remove the top plastic wrap and gently invert the pan onto your smoker rack and lift away the pan. Peel away and discard the plastic wrap that lined the pan.
- Smoke the bacon at 200 degrees F until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. (With my electric Masterbuilt smoker, this took about 2 1/2 hours.)
- Slice the bacon on a meat slicer or on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
- Vacuum seal bacon in 1 or 2 lb. packages and freeze for long-term storage.
- When you're ready to eat it, fry the bacon in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until it's as crispy as you like it.
Tried this recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @wildgameandfish or tag #wildgameandfish
14 Responses
Do you happen to have a vegetarian version of this recipe? JUST KIDDING!! 😂 I couldn’t resist. 😁
You can make this salad https://wildgameandfish.com/loaded-lettuce-venison-bacon/ and just leave off the bacon 🙂
This is one we make all the time. Quick fry up and delicious…
Great stuff!
Thanks Kathy. Glad you like it.
Would this work for elk?
Penni – Absolutely! Any ground venison would work, including deer, moose, antelope, caribou, or elk.
What format of pork do you grind? Tenderloin is too lean. Pork shoulder?
Boston Butt – Pork Shoulder
What part does the powdered milk play…totally understand the cure and seasons, but milk seems out of place.
Great question Carl! The powdered milk is used as a binder. It helps us get a juicier final product for this deer bacon recipe, but also works well when making deer sausage too. Some may tell you it’s not needed if the sausage is mixed properly, but I’ve found it helps me a ton.
Just wondering why add liquid smoke if using a smoker?
Great question. I experimented with this recipe for a very long time and without the liquid smoke, my wife always lamented that it needed just a little more of a smoky flavor, so I added the liquid smoke and it made a huge difference.
This recipe is great! I did 2x the recipe, used my grill at 175-200 instead of smoker (issues with it) I also used pork tenderloin. Next time I will try pork picnic roast, half liquid smoke (not a huge fan of it), try the smoker, and do a 50/50 combo. Other than changing a few things to our families taste, this was an amazing recipe!